Parallels Between Perfectionism & Eating Disorders
for female recreational athletes
What will I learn?
Perfectionism is a personality trait that is common in athletes as well as eating disorders.
Throughout this course you will be able to become aware of how perfectionism may play a role in your nutrition and athletic goals, when perfectionism becomes problematic, as well work through activities that will help you take steps towards devleoping a more positive realtionship with food, movement, and your body.
Overview
Module 4: Making Peace With Food
Module 1: Self-Assessment & Awareness
A sports nutrition overview and activities to challenge possible rules around food.
Get an idea of how perfectionism and your relationship with food, movement, and your body may be playing a role in your life.
Module 5: Rebuilding Your Relationship with Movement & Nutrition
Module 2: The Research Connection
Understand the research behind this course and know you are not alone in your experiences.
Acknowledge yourself as an athlete and celebrate your body for what she can do.
Module 6: Resources for Further Support
Module 3: Understanding Perfectionism
Learn about the misconceptions of perfectionism and find how your values play an important role in striving for your goals.
Practices to take with you and resources to surround yourself with.
Module 1
Self-Assessment & Awareness
Get an idea of how perfectionism and your relationship with food, movement, and your body may be playing a role in your life.
Take the Assessment
Understand Your Scores & Reflect
Eating, Exercise, & Body Image
Perfectionism
13-39:
52-65:
You show low-moderate levels of diisordered eating risk. Your relationhsip with food, movement, and your body may be in a good place, but you are still open to room for improvement.
You show high levels of diisordered eating risk. Food, movement, and your body may take up a lot of mental energy for you.
You show high levels of perfectionism. You have likely been called "Type A" and have a hard time moving through the day without a plan.
13-39:
52-65:
You show low-moderate levels of perfectionism. You might be someone who goes with the flow and does not get bothered by small things.
Reflection: Take a moment to think of one area where perfectionsim may show up in your nutrition, training, or body image. Do not judge, just reflect.
*This tool should not be used to diagnose or treat eating disorders or any mental health illness. This is a simply a self-assessment tool for self-awareness.
Module 2
The Research Connection
Understand the research behind this course and know you are not alone in your experiences.
Research Overview
Relationship Between Disordered Eating & Perfectionism
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
History of Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating vs Perfectionism
Learn More
Learn More
Perfectionism Type & High Perfectionism, Self-Pressure, and Low Self-Esteem
High Scoring EEB Distinction Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism
Social Pressure Versus Self-Pressure in Each Perfectionism Type
Learn More
High Scoring EEB Relationship to Low-Self Esteem and Social Pressure to be Perfect
Learn More
Learn More
Restrictive Eating Disorders and Perfectionism
Perfectionism Scores of High Purging Scores
Learn More
Interview Themes
Interview Theme Quotes
Learn More
Module 3
Understanding Perfectionism
Learn about the misconceptions of perfectionism and find how your values play an important role in striving for your goals.
Adaptive vs. Maladaptive Perfectionism
Adaptive
Maladaptive
- Believed to be adopted by athletes
- Seen to be the setting of high personal standards and goals while keeping a positive outlook
- Adaptive perfectionists are encouraged by personal achievement and have better control over anxiety
- Believed to be adopted by those with eating disorders
- Maladaptive perfectionists have an excessive perfectionist obsession that can take over their lives
- Related to anxiety, stress, and a negative view of the future
- Perfectionism comes from the images that remind these individuals of what they are lacking
The Overlap
Reflection
Think about a recent training or nutirtion goal. Can you identify which parts came from your value and which came from external expectations (ie. social media, coaches, peers)?
If your goal was from external expectations, you are not alone...
Untangling Your Why
The purpose of this activity is to help you understand where your drive to be perfect comes from. It is not a bad thing to be a high-achiever, but the goals you set for yourself should be ones that align with your values, not drawn from comparision to others.
Take out a piece of paper or a journal. Get comfortable and be ready to be honest with yourself.
- On left-hand side of the paper, list any and all of your current nutrition and athletic goals.
- Identify the source of each goal.
- On the right-hand side of the paper, list your values.
- Draw lines connecting your goals with your values. If you have goals that cannot connect to your values, ask yourself where they are coming from. Is it societal pressure?
- Rewrite one goal to align with your values and adaptive drive.
Module 4
Making Peace With Food
A sports nutrition overview and activities to challenge possible rules around food.
An Athlete's Plate
As we will discuss more in Module 5, you, as a recreational athlete are an athlete. Your nutrition needs are greater than the general guidelines for the broad population. As an athlete, you can't follow the recommendations meant for the sedentary person.
Protein
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates
Color
Fat
Fat
Hear how nutrition education has helped other athletes...
Color
Protein
An Athlete's Plate
General Recommendations
*Individual nutirtion needs vary. This diagram should only be used for general sports nutrition guidance.
Challenge Food Rules
The purpose of this activity is to help you acknowledge conscious or subconcious food rules that could be affecting how you choose to fuel your body. The goal of this activity is not to transform your relationship with food in a couple minutes, as this often takes consistent work over time. The goal is for you to start to take initial steps that challenge your thinking, taking the power away from food and into you instead.
Take out a piece of paper or a journal. Get comfortable and be ready to be honest with yourself.
- Divide your paper into three columns.
- In the first column, list all of your food rules you may have. Examples of food rules can be found here.
- In the second column, for each rule, write down what will happen if you break the rule.
- Set a time to challenge this rule. All challenges will require some level of discomfort. If challenging this rule causes extreme anxiety, try challenging a rule that seems less daunting to begin.
- After challenging the rule, reflect on what actually happened in the last column.
- Compare the second and third column. Was the outcome more underwhleming or overwhelming than you had thought?
Module 5
Rebuilding Your Relationship with Movement
Acknowledge yourself as an athlete and celebrate your body for what she can do.
You Are An Athlete
Definition of a Recreational Athlete:
A physically active individual who exercises regularly and does not participate in sports at the collegiate or professional level.
Questions to ask yourself...
- Do I exercise for 7 or more hours per week?
- Is exercise something that I incorporate into my daily life?
- Do I work towards making progress in my sport? (lifting heavier, running faster, winning competitions)
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are likely a recreational athlete!
Vulnerability of Recreational Athletes
Lack of Supervision
Not exercising under the guidance of coaches or dietitians as a pro/collegiate athelte would leads to heightened autonomy in your exercise regimen. Athletic professionals ensure athletes take rest days and fuel optimally.
External Pressures
This can come from diet culture, fit/thin ideal, performance pressure, social media, and/or peer influence. These are often the same pressures that both pro/collegiate athletes face as well as non-athletes.
Belief of Not Being an Athlete
Despite not being "on a team" or competeing professionally, the idea that you are not athlete can be limiting you to reaching your full potential.
When compounded, these factors all make you, as a recreational athlete, more vulnerable to disordered eating, perfectionism, or both.
Your Relationship With Movement
Think back to Module 3 when you reflected on your goals and values. What came up when you assessed your exercise goals?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I move your body because I enjoy it or because I was told I had to?
- Do I push yourself to my limits despite sickness or exhaustion?
- Do I feel anxious when I don't get to exercise?
Movement is meant to add to your life, not take away from it. It is okay (and encouraged) to challenge yourself, but it should never be done at the expense of your well-being.
Body Scan Meditation
The purpose of this activty is to help you acknowledge your body for what she can do. By participating in this activity you will be able to begin to shift from seeing your body for her appearance, and instead for her performance and all the things she helps you accomplish everyday.
Sit down in a chair with your feet on the ground. Work your way from your toes to your head, clicking on each dot as you move up.
Module 6
Resources for Further Support
Practices to take with you and resources to surround yourself with.
Reframes
When you sense you are being hard on yourself or that your old habits are creeping back in, try these reframes to shift your focus.
Resources
Follow social media accounts from...
Ideas to make food and movement fun and less regimented...
- from dietitians who focus on eating enough, not less
- influencers who promote overall well-being from the inside out and not the outside in
- diverse body types
- workout with a friend
- cook a new recipe with a friend
- try a new form of movement
- workout without your fitness tracker
- join your community's run club
- plan fun activites for your rest days
- go on a walk in a new neighborhood
- let someone else cook for you
See social media accounts
Summary
“Everyone is a perfectionist to some extent”
Adaptive and maladptive perfectionsim do not occur in isolation. They overlap due to the social pressure to be perfect getting embedded into the self-pressure to be perfect. This validates the commonality of perfectionism and disordered eating, especially in athletes, a gorup of individuals who often have a high-achieiving personality. Remember that as a recreational athlete, you are an athlete and you should treat your body like one! Change does not happen overnight, but with time, practice, and consistent effort (which you are capable of as an athlete) you can take steps in the direction towards a more positive relationship with food, movement, and your body.
References
- Read the full original research paper.
- Learn about performance plates.
- Explore the Intuitive Eating principles.
- Learn more about food rules.
Do you have questions?
If something was not clear or you want to delve into a topic, do not hesitate to contact me or research the topic more! Your curiosity is also part of the healing process.
Thank you for taking the course!
Positive Instagram Accounts
- @diet.culture.rebel
- @runnergirldietitian
- @reilly.beatty.nutrition
- @no.food.rules
- @abbieattwoodwellness
- @michaelulloapt
- @skyreyfit
- @yourrunningbff
- @knight__fit
- @ilonamaher
- @allie_ostrander
History of Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating vs Perfectionism
Of those currently experiencing an eating disorder or disordered eating (ED/DE) (n=13), 7 had a high perfectionism score (p=8.75x10-4). However, the rates of perfectionism for those that had negative body image in the past and those that had ED/DE in the past were not significant. Improvement was a common theme amongst the interviews, where it was found that nutrition education plays a large role in improving one’s relationship with food. Participants were able to identify that their past-selves were perfectionistic around food because of the unrealistic standards they had set for themselves. However, once they learned about nutrition and physiology, they were able to celebrate their bodies more and learn to give it the fuel it deserved.
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
When looking at those who scored high in Perfectionism (n = 26), only 2 scored high in Eating, Exercise, & Body Image (EEB) (8%). Though, when looking at those who scored high in EEB (n = 6), 50% of this group also scored high in perfectionism, with the other 50% having Perfectionism scores of no less than 47. This shows that having disordered eating is more tightly linked with perfectionism than perfectionism is linked with disordered eating.
Quotes From Interviewees
“I don't think anyone has a 100% perfect relationship with food… I think everyone is struggling in their own way.”
“I saw other people and believed they were happy because they were confident in how they look.”
“I got praise for being skinny and became a people pleaser for getting the praise.”
“Gaining weight made me reevaluate relationship with food.”
“My TikTok algorithm is food heavy, and it contributes to how I think with myself.”
“I had a natural comparison to my teammates.”
Perfectionism Scores of High Purging Scores
It has previously been believed that perfectionsim was more closely tied to restrictive eating disordrers rather than purging-type eating disorders. However. those that scored high for purging behaviors in the EEB section (n = 4) of the survey were analyzed for their perfectionistic traits and their perfectionism were all relatively high. This is important for the research on temperament treatment, as it is not just restrictive eating disorders that have a risk for perfectionsim.
High Scoring EEB Distinction Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism
Questions that identified adaptive versus maladaptive perfectionism were very similar in their scores across those that scored high in EEB. Out of the highest potential score of 5, high-scoring EEB participants averaged a 3.83 for adaptive perfectionism and a 3.67 for maladaptive perfectionism. This begins to give insight into the overlap between adaptive and maladpative perfectionism that will be further discussed in Module 3.
Social Pressure Versus Self-Pressure in Each Perfectionism Type
The scores for social pressure and self-pressure to be perfect for both high-scoring adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists were all similar. The difference in scores between each type of perfectionist for social pressure and self-pressure to be perfect were not significant. However, both types of perfectionists had higher feelings of self-pressure to be perfect than they did social pressure. Additionally, out of all 84 participants, the self-pressure to be perfect had a mean average score of 5, which was the only question with this high of a score. This is more evidence around the overlap between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism.
Instructions: Rank each statement from 1-5, 1 being "I do not resonate" and 5 being "I strongly resonate". Tally your scores on a separate piece of paper and use this information for your own reference.
Eating, Exercise, & Body Image
Perfectionism
I feel I need to exercise to make up for the food I have eaten. Telling of relationship with food I feel the need to vomit or use a laxative to make up for the food I have eaten. I view food as healthy or unhealthy and good or bad. If I was unable to exercise I would pay closer attention to what I eat. I feel anxious eating in front of others. I measure or weigh my food before eating it. I track my food (calories, macros, etc.) using an app, website, written down, or mentally. I spend a lot of time thinking about food. I avoid social situations that would require me to eat differently than normal. I exercise with the intention of “burning calories”. I exercise to change the way my body appears. My body is often commented on.
My parents/guardians had/have high expectations for me. My coaches/mentors had/have high expectations for me. My identity is in athleticism and being active. I feel social pressure to be perfect. I am concerned about making mistakes. I have high personal standards and goals for myself. I believe there will be consequences when I do not uphold the expectations other people have of me. I rarely have to be reminded to finish a task. I am a creature of habit. Comparing myself to others inspires me to better myself. Comparing myself to others makes me wish I was more like other people. I have a low self-esteem. I do not have control over anxiety.
Quotes From Interviewees
“I now understand genetics and social media lacks this.”
“Moving my body in any capacity is better than nothing.”
“Eating a meal is better than nothing, even if it doesn’t have perfect ingredients.”
“Sports nutrition class has taught food is fuel.”
How do the types of perfectionism overlap?
social pressure to be perfect (ie. social media, peer influence, coach/mentor expectations, diet culture)
adaptive perfectionsitic personality (ie. type A, high achiever)
maladaptive perfectionism (striving to meet goals based on other people's expectations)
self-pressure to be perfect
internalization of social pressure (self-pressure to be perfect based rooted in the social pressure to be perfect)
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
Those that scored high in EEB were examined for their self-identifying self-esteem as well as their feelings of social pressure to be perfect. Low self-esteem was found to be low, with only 24.5% of high EEB participants identifying as having low-self esteem. However, there was a high social pressure to be perfect amongst this group, with their average score being 4.83 (p = 5.4x10-5). This raises the question of if self-esteem is self-identifiable. Perhaps ask a trsuted friend to assess your self-esteem.
Research Overview
The following findings are based on a survey administered to a sample of 84 female recreational athletes aged 18-30 years old. The survey matched the same questions that were asked in the Module 1 assessment. From this survey, 4 subjects also participated in a conversational interview to expand on their responses.
Interview Theme Quotes
Three trends were identified from the interview portion of the study: improvement, identity, and body pressure. The theme of improvement relates to the trend of interviewees having a worse relationship with food, exercise, and their body in the past and feeling as though they have overcome this, with nutrition education playing a large role. The theme of identity was found through the trend of interviewees being envious of non-perfectionists but not wanting to change their ways because their identity is rooted in perfectionism. Lastly, all interviewees displayed body pressure being present in their perfectionistic tendencies and/or disordered eating and exercise behaviors in an attempt to change their body.
Parallels Between Perfectionism & Eating Disorders
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Transcript
Parallels Between Perfectionism & Eating Disorders
for female recreational athletes
What will I learn?
Perfectionism is a personality trait that is common in athletes as well as eating disorders.
Throughout this course you will be able to become aware of how perfectionism may play a role in your nutrition and athletic goals, when perfectionism becomes problematic, as well work through activities that will help you take steps towards devleoping a more positive realtionship with food, movement, and your body.
Overview
Module 4: Making Peace With Food
Module 1: Self-Assessment & Awareness
A sports nutrition overview and activities to challenge possible rules around food.
Get an idea of how perfectionism and your relationship with food, movement, and your body may be playing a role in your life.
Module 5: Rebuilding Your Relationship with Movement & Nutrition
Module 2: The Research Connection
Understand the research behind this course and know you are not alone in your experiences.
Acknowledge yourself as an athlete and celebrate your body for what she can do.
Module 6: Resources for Further Support
Module 3: Understanding Perfectionism
Learn about the misconceptions of perfectionism and find how your values play an important role in striving for your goals.
Practices to take with you and resources to surround yourself with.
Module 1
Self-Assessment & Awareness
Get an idea of how perfectionism and your relationship with food, movement, and your body may be playing a role in your life.
Take the Assessment
Understand Your Scores & Reflect
Eating, Exercise, & Body Image
Perfectionism
13-39:
52-65:
You show low-moderate levels of diisordered eating risk. Your relationhsip with food, movement, and your body may be in a good place, but you are still open to room for improvement.
You show high levels of diisordered eating risk. Food, movement, and your body may take up a lot of mental energy for you.
You show high levels of perfectionism. You have likely been called "Type A" and have a hard time moving through the day without a plan.
13-39:
52-65:
You show low-moderate levels of perfectionism. You might be someone who goes with the flow and does not get bothered by small things.
Reflection: Take a moment to think of one area where perfectionsim may show up in your nutrition, training, or body image. Do not judge, just reflect.
*This tool should not be used to diagnose or treat eating disorders or any mental health illness. This is a simply a self-assessment tool for self-awareness.
Module 2
The Research Connection
Understand the research behind this course and know you are not alone in your experiences.
Research Overview
Relationship Between Disordered Eating & Perfectionism
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
History of Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating vs Perfectionism
Learn More
Learn More
Perfectionism Type & High Perfectionism, Self-Pressure, and Low Self-Esteem
High Scoring EEB Distinction Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism
Social Pressure Versus Self-Pressure in Each Perfectionism Type
Learn More
High Scoring EEB Relationship to Low-Self Esteem and Social Pressure to be Perfect
Learn More
Learn More
Restrictive Eating Disorders and Perfectionism
Perfectionism Scores of High Purging Scores
Learn More
Interview Themes
Interview Theme Quotes
Learn More
Module 3
Understanding Perfectionism
Learn about the misconceptions of perfectionism and find how your values play an important role in striving for your goals.
Adaptive vs. Maladaptive Perfectionism
Adaptive
Maladaptive
The Overlap
Reflection
Think about a recent training or nutirtion goal. Can you identify which parts came from your value and which came from external expectations (ie. social media, coaches, peers)?
If your goal was from external expectations, you are not alone...
Untangling Your Why
The purpose of this activity is to help you understand where your drive to be perfect comes from. It is not a bad thing to be a high-achiever, but the goals you set for yourself should be ones that align with your values, not drawn from comparision to others.
Take out a piece of paper or a journal. Get comfortable and be ready to be honest with yourself.
Module 4
Making Peace With Food
A sports nutrition overview and activities to challenge possible rules around food.
An Athlete's Plate
As we will discuss more in Module 5, you, as a recreational athlete are an athlete. Your nutrition needs are greater than the general guidelines for the broad population. As an athlete, you can't follow the recommendations meant for the sedentary person.
Protein
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates
Color
Fat
Fat
Hear how nutrition education has helped other athletes...
Color
Protein
An Athlete's Plate
General Recommendations
*Individual nutirtion needs vary. This diagram should only be used for general sports nutrition guidance.
Challenge Food Rules
The purpose of this activity is to help you acknowledge conscious or subconcious food rules that could be affecting how you choose to fuel your body. The goal of this activity is not to transform your relationship with food in a couple minutes, as this often takes consistent work over time. The goal is for you to start to take initial steps that challenge your thinking, taking the power away from food and into you instead.
Take out a piece of paper or a journal. Get comfortable and be ready to be honest with yourself.
Module 5
Rebuilding Your Relationship with Movement
Acknowledge yourself as an athlete and celebrate your body for what she can do.
You Are An Athlete
Definition of a Recreational Athlete:
A physically active individual who exercises regularly and does not participate in sports at the collegiate or professional level.
Questions to ask yourself...
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are likely a recreational athlete!
Vulnerability of Recreational Athletes
Lack of Supervision
Not exercising under the guidance of coaches or dietitians as a pro/collegiate athelte would leads to heightened autonomy in your exercise regimen. Athletic professionals ensure athletes take rest days and fuel optimally.
External Pressures
This can come from diet culture, fit/thin ideal, performance pressure, social media, and/or peer influence. These are often the same pressures that both pro/collegiate athletes face as well as non-athletes.
Belief of Not Being an Athlete
Despite not being "on a team" or competeing professionally, the idea that you are not athlete can be limiting you to reaching your full potential.
When compounded, these factors all make you, as a recreational athlete, more vulnerable to disordered eating, perfectionism, or both.
Your Relationship With Movement
Think back to Module 3 when you reflected on your goals and values. What came up when you assessed your exercise goals?
Ask yourself the following questions:
Movement is meant to add to your life, not take away from it. It is okay (and encouraged) to challenge yourself, but it should never be done at the expense of your well-being.
Body Scan Meditation
The purpose of this activty is to help you acknowledge your body for what she can do. By participating in this activity you will be able to begin to shift from seeing your body for her appearance, and instead for her performance and all the things she helps you accomplish everyday.
Sit down in a chair with your feet on the ground. Work your way from your toes to your head, clicking on each dot as you move up.
Module 6
Resources for Further Support
Practices to take with you and resources to surround yourself with.
Reframes
When you sense you are being hard on yourself or that your old habits are creeping back in, try these reframes to shift your focus.
Resources
Follow social media accounts from...
Ideas to make food and movement fun and less regimented...
See social media accounts
Summary
“Everyone is a perfectionist to some extent”
Adaptive and maladptive perfectionsim do not occur in isolation. They overlap due to the social pressure to be perfect getting embedded into the self-pressure to be perfect. This validates the commonality of perfectionism and disordered eating, especially in athletes, a gorup of individuals who often have a high-achieiving personality. Remember that as a recreational athlete, you are an athlete and you should treat your body like one! Change does not happen overnight, but with time, practice, and consistent effort (which you are capable of as an athlete) you can take steps in the direction towards a more positive relationship with food, movement, and your body.
References
Do you have questions?
If something was not clear or you want to delve into a topic, do not hesitate to contact me or research the topic more! Your curiosity is also part of the healing process.
Thank you for taking the course!
Positive Instagram Accounts
History of Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating vs Perfectionism
Of those currently experiencing an eating disorder or disordered eating (ED/DE) (n=13), 7 had a high perfectionism score (p=8.75x10-4). However, the rates of perfectionism for those that had negative body image in the past and those that had ED/DE in the past were not significant. Improvement was a common theme amongst the interviews, where it was found that nutrition education plays a large role in improving one’s relationship with food. Participants were able to identify that their past-selves were perfectionistic around food because of the unrealistic standards they had set for themselves. However, once they learned about nutrition and physiology, they were able to celebrate their bodies more and learn to give it the fuel it deserved.
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
When looking at those who scored high in Perfectionism (n = 26), only 2 scored high in Eating, Exercise, & Body Image (EEB) (8%). Though, when looking at those who scored high in EEB (n = 6), 50% of this group also scored high in perfectionism, with the other 50% having Perfectionism scores of no less than 47. This shows that having disordered eating is more tightly linked with perfectionism than perfectionism is linked with disordered eating.
Quotes From Interviewees
“I don't think anyone has a 100% perfect relationship with food… I think everyone is struggling in their own way.”
“I saw other people and believed they were happy because they were confident in how they look.”
“I got praise for being skinny and became a people pleaser for getting the praise.”
“Gaining weight made me reevaluate relationship with food.”
“My TikTok algorithm is food heavy, and it contributes to how I think with myself.”
“I had a natural comparison to my teammates.”
Perfectionism Scores of High Purging Scores
It has previously been believed that perfectionsim was more closely tied to restrictive eating disordrers rather than purging-type eating disorders. However. those that scored high for purging behaviors in the EEB section (n = 4) of the survey were analyzed for their perfectionistic traits and their perfectionism were all relatively high. This is important for the research on temperament treatment, as it is not just restrictive eating disorders that have a risk for perfectionsim.
High Scoring EEB Distinction Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism
Questions that identified adaptive versus maladaptive perfectionism were very similar in their scores across those that scored high in EEB. Out of the highest potential score of 5, high-scoring EEB participants averaged a 3.83 for adaptive perfectionism and a 3.67 for maladaptive perfectionism. This begins to give insight into the overlap between adaptive and maladpative perfectionism that will be further discussed in Module 3.
Social Pressure Versus Self-Pressure in Each Perfectionism Type
The scores for social pressure and self-pressure to be perfect for both high-scoring adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists were all similar. The difference in scores between each type of perfectionist for social pressure and self-pressure to be perfect were not significant. However, both types of perfectionists had higher feelings of self-pressure to be perfect than they did social pressure. Additionally, out of all 84 participants, the self-pressure to be perfect had a mean average score of 5, which was the only question with this high of a score. This is more evidence around the overlap between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism.
Instructions: Rank each statement from 1-5, 1 being "I do not resonate" and 5 being "I strongly resonate". Tally your scores on a separate piece of paper and use this information for your own reference.
Eating, Exercise, & Body Image
Perfectionism
I feel I need to exercise to make up for the food I have eaten. Telling of relationship with food I feel the need to vomit or use a laxative to make up for the food I have eaten. I view food as healthy or unhealthy and good or bad. If I was unable to exercise I would pay closer attention to what I eat. I feel anxious eating in front of others. I measure or weigh my food before eating it. I track my food (calories, macros, etc.) using an app, website, written down, or mentally. I spend a lot of time thinking about food. I avoid social situations that would require me to eat differently than normal. I exercise with the intention of “burning calories”. I exercise to change the way my body appears. My body is often commented on.
My parents/guardians had/have high expectations for me. My coaches/mentors had/have high expectations for me. My identity is in athleticism and being active. I feel social pressure to be perfect. I am concerned about making mistakes. I have high personal standards and goals for myself. I believe there will be consequences when I do not uphold the expectations other people have of me. I rarely have to be reminded to finish a task. I am a creature of habit. Comparing myself to others inspires me to better myself. Comparing myself to others makes me wish I was more like other people. I have a low self-esteem. I do not have control over anxiety.
Quotes From Interviewees
“I now understand genetics and social media lacks this.”
“Moving my body in any capacity is better than nothing.”
“Eating a meal is better than nothing, even if it doesn’t have perfect ingredients.”
“Sports nutrition class has taught food is fuel.”
How do the types of perfectionism overlap?
social pressure to be perfect (ie. social media, peer influence, coach/mentor expectations, diet culture)
adaptive perfectionsitic personality (ie. type A, high achiever)
maladaptive perfectionism (striving to meet goals based on other people's expectations)
self-pressure to be perfect
internalization of social pressure (self-pressure to be perfect based rooted in the social pressure to be perfect)
High Scoring Perfectionism vs High Scoring EEB and Their Corresponding Score to the Other Respective Section
Those that scored high in EEB were examined for their self-identifying self-esteem as well as their feelings of social pressure to be perfect. Low self-esteem was found to be low, with only 24.5% of high EEB participants identifying as having low-self esteem. However, there was a high social pressure to be perfect amongst this group, with their average score being 4.83 (p = 5.4x10-5). This raises the question of if self-esteem is self-identifiable. Perhaps ask a trsuted friend to assess your self-esteem.
Research Overview
The following findings are based on a survey administered to a sample of 84 female recreational athletes aged 18-30 years old. The survey matched the same questions that were asked in the Module 1 assessment. From this survey, 4 subjects also participated in a conversational interview to expand on their responses.
Interview Theme Quotes
Three trends were identified from the interview portion of the study: improvement, identity, and body pressure. The theme of improvement relates to the trend of interviewees having a worse relationship with food, exercise, and their body in the past and feeling as though they have overcome this, with nutrition education playing a large role. The theme of identity was found through the trend of interviewees being envious of non-perfectionists but not wanting to change their ways because their identity is rooted in perfectionism. Lastly, all interviewees displayed body pressure being present in their perfectionistic tendencies and/or disordered eating and exercise behaviors in an attempt to change their body.